We spent the whole day in bed--and not in a good way. Poor Jeff was so sick that it quickly became apparent that we would not, in fact, be doing any hiking or biking that day, or really even leave the inn. I felt terrible for him, but at least, if he was going to get sick on part of our honeymoon, this was the place to do it. The bungalow was as comfortable as being at home, and even laying in bed we had an amazing view to enjoy and birds to listen to outside our window. By the evening he was feeling better, and we took a quick drive to a restaurant down the road. Barry and Jane recommended Sancocho soup for an upset stomach (a Panamanian cure-all similar to how we use chicken soup). The restaurant was amazing, and the soup did the trick: Jeff was better by the time we went to bed that night.
The next morning we woke up and all was well. Good thing, too, because we had scheduled a zipline tour for early that morning! We met up with the tour in town and took a bus ride up the mountain, on increasingly rough and winding roads, until we finally reached the summit where we were outfitted with ziplining gear and given instructions on how not to plummet to our deaths:
Stylish, no?
From here we hiked up and down dirt trails while taking in amazing views of the volcano, until we reached the first platform. Before the day was over we would reach thirteen platforms, cruising along twelve cables high above the forest floor.
Jeff, being the gentleman that he is, insisted that I go first. He had never done this before, and was eyeballing the rickety wood platform and suspended cable with more than a little mistrust. He reasoned that, since I had been ziplining before (almost a decade ago in Costa Rica), I would be less nervous and could show him how it was done. Um, that was all well and good in theory, but the Costa Rican ziplines looked nothing like this! These were much higher and longer, and I was terrified.
When it was my turn, my heart started racing and my stomach was doing flip-flops. I asked the guide once again when and how much to brake. He had me pull the cable down using both hands and he looped the steel bracket to the cable, then hooked the three carabiners from my harness to the bracket. I leaned back, held the bracket with my left hand and the cable behind me with my right, and lifted my feet off the platform. He held me in place, suspended from the cable with only his hand in front of the bracket to keep me from swinging off into the jungle.
"Ready?" he asked in English.
"Si," I answered shakily.
He pulled back as if to let me go, when a voice crackled over his walkie talkie "Amarillo en dos, espera espera!", "Yellow on two, wait wait!"
"Whoops," my guide said. "Not ready yet." I took a deep breath and looked at him warily. We waited another few seconds and then he said "Ready? Go!" and rather unceremoniously let go of the bracket and sent me flying.
I soared over the jungle below, trying to take in the sights but mostly trying to keep myself from twisting and turning and figure out how I was going to land without crashing into the rapidly approaching tree. Before I could become really frightened, however, I reached the second platform and "braked" by pulling down on the cable behind me with my right hand. I wanted to wait and watch Jeff's approach, but there was no time: this guide handed me off to one on the other side of the platform, who quickly and expertly hooked me up to the second cable and with a "One, two, three!" sent me soaring again.
I rushed from one cable to the next, until I reached the sixth platform, the point of no return. This was the last platform that was built on solid ground (the remainder were built into the sides of massive trees). After this, the only way out was to keep going forward. The guide here asked me if I wanted to quit and turn back. I turned to see Jeff coming in for a landing behind me and stopped to watch. The guide tried to hurry me along. "Wait," I told him, "that's my husband!" (which, by the way, was the first time I was able to properly use that in a sentence in a non-contrived way, and made me smile immensely). I watched him approach the platform, grinning broadly. When he landed I asked him if wanted to keep going; he just nodded, still smiling. I turned back to the guide. "Okay," I said. "We're good."
The rest of the cables went quickly as we climbed higher and higher into the canopy. The last three were the most exhilarating: the longest was a quarter-mile long, so long and surrounded by trees that you couldn't see the next platform until you nearly crashed into it. The next cable had us soaring impossibly high over the valley:
Finally, we had reached the end. The last cable was short and steep, and planted us back on terra firma just outside the door of the resort's restaurant and bar:
The whole group posed for a photo with our guides, and were presented with certificates of bravery:
And, at long last, we reached our real goal: beer!
We savored our beer, looked at photos the guides had taken during the tour, and chatted with a cute couple from North Carolina that had just gotten engaged. As we listened to them talk about dates and venues, Jeff and I toasted to being done with the wedding planning!
We made our way back into town, and though we had plans to hike and bike ride, the rain had started again and didn't look like it would let up anytime soon. Plan B was a drive throughout the Chiriqui Province in our rented car. Despite the bad weather we got great views of waterfalls, creeks, and mountains:
We went for a short hike in the national park when the weather let up a little, but were forced back to the car by muddy roads and increasing rain.
And finally we made our way back to the inn. We went out to dinner, to a Peruvian restaurant that didn't look like much from the outside but boasted the best grilled octopus in town and did not disappoint. We ate and drank wine, and returned to our bungalow at 10 o'clock, exhausted from our long and thrilling day.
The next morning we woke up early for a coffee tour with Barry. He showed us around the estate and taught us about the history and manufacturing of coffee. I was truly inspired by his laid-back attitude, his complete lack of desire to become rich or poweful, and his yearning only for a simple and beautiful life. It really seemed to me like he had it all figured out.
Back at the house, Jane took some pictures of us together around the inn. She said that most couples don't get many pictures of themselves together while traveling, and she likes to make sure they get at least a few while staying there. See? They really have thought of everything!
They gave us some tips for the final leg of our journey, places to eat and tour in Panama City. The we bid them a fond farewell and took the hour-long scenic drive back to David, where we boarded another prop plane to Panama City to begin the last leg of our Panama adventure.
